Hatley leaves Chicago Bears

LAKE FOREST, Ill. (AP) - Mark Hatley, the Chicago Bears' vice president of player personnel, left the team Monday in what he and president Ted Phillips called a "mutual termination."

Hatley, the team's personnel chief the past four years, was not fired, Phillips said.

"The bottom line is our record has not been good enough," Hatley said at a news conference at the Bears practice facility. "After much thought, I think it's best if I move on."

Hatley, a native of Phillips, was inducted into the 2000 Texas Panhandle Sports Hall of Fame.

A search for Hatley's successor will begin immediately, and Phillips said he hasn't ruled out hiring a general manager. The Bears haven't had a general manager since Jerry Vainisi was fired after the 1986 season.

"The exact duties will depend on the individual hired," Phillips said.

Hatley has been dogged for months by rumors that he was leaving the Bears. They began when Marty Schottenheimer, Hatley's boss in Kansas City, was hired in Washington. But he's also been linked to the Green Bay Packers.

Although Hatley repeatedly said he had no intention of leaving, he and Phillips sat down after the draft to discuss the rumors. During the talks, they decided it was in Hatley's and the Bears' best interests to make a change.

"I have no other job," said Hatley, who came close to breaking down several times during the half-hour news conference. "It's time for a change. That's just what I believe.

"We haven't won enough football games, and that's what we're graded by."

When Hatley arrived in May 1997, he inherited a team that had had missed the playoffs for two consecutive seasons and was full of holes. The Bears have gone 4-12, 4-12, 6-10 and 5-11 since.